


rex corvus

by kirani



Series: Gansey Week 2019 [6]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Established Relationship, Fainting, First Dates, M/M, Multi, Pain, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-03 04:57:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20259145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani/pseuds/kirani
Summary: “Are you lost?” Ronan scoffed. Adam hid a laugh behind his hand.“No,” the guy said carefully. “I’d like a tattoo.”~In which Adam and Ronan run a tattoo parlor and a new customer charms them.Written forGansey WeekDay 6:  Wings/Crowns/Seeking you out





	rex corvus

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Aurum for the beta read!

Ronan exchanged a look with Adam as the guy walked in. He was wearing a polo shirt, khakis, and boat shoes. 

“Are you lost?” Ronan scoffed. Adam hid a laugh behind his hand. 

“No,” the guy said carefully. “I’d like a tattoo.”

“Do you have a design?” Adam asked, reaching for a clipboard to sign him in. 

“Oh, yeah,” he said with a note of surprise in his voice. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to Adam. 

“Where do you want it?” 

The man lifted up his polo sleeve and bared his inner bicep, tapping just above the elbow. “Right here.”

“Fill this out,” Adam handed him the clipboard. “I’ll need your ID, too.” 

“Right, of course,” the guy said. He sat down on the benches and filled out the paperwork methodically while Adam smoothed out the design on the counter. Ronan slid over to look at it. The drawing was pretty simple, a slightly stylized crown with two words under it: rex corvus.

“Raven king?” Ronan said aloud. 

The man looked up.

“You speak Latin?” 

“I dabble,” Ronan smirked. Adam snorted beside him and Ronan turned to scowl at him. 

“What do you know about Welsh kings?” the man asked, returning the clipboard to Adam. 

Ronan raised an eyebrow, giving him the opening he was clearly looking for. 

“Owain Glyndŵr was a Welsh lord in the late middle ages. He disappeared in 1415 and is believed to be still alive, sleeping, on the ley lines, waiting to return and free his people from the English. Fascinating man. He was known as the Raven King. I wrote my master’s thesis on him.”

“Hence the tattoo,” Adam cut him off politely. “Go ahead and have a seat” -- he glanced down at the paper -- “Richard, we’ll call you in a few minutes.”

“Just Gansey is fine,” the man smiled, much more at ease than when he had first entered. 

“You want it?” Adam asked. 

Ronan shrugged. “Sure. Should be quick.”

Adam nodded and handed him the paper and Ronan took it to the back to begin the ink transfer drawing.

When he had Gansey situated in his station comfortably, the ink transfer placed how he wanted it, Ronan paused before he turned on the needle. 

“This is your first tattoo, right?”

“Is it that obvious?” Gansey smiled weakly. 

“Thought so. You ready? It’s gonna hurt.”

“I know,” he nodded decisively. “I’m ready.”

Ronan nodded and turned on the needle but paused when Gansey tensed. “Relax, dude. It’ll hurt more if you’re flexing.”

The man blushed but purposefully relaxed his arm. Ronan leaned in and began to trace the ink of the first line along the bottom of the crown. Gansey shouted out but didn’t pull away and Ronan flicked his eyes up to his customer before returning to his work. 

As he worked, a steady stream of swear words came from Gansey in between purposefully deep, even breaths. Ronan kept working, knowing it wouldn’t take too long. Until the arm beneath his needle suddenly slacked and Gansey slumped sideways on the bench. 

“Fuck!” Ronan shouted, grabbing at Gansey with his free hand to keep him from falling from the bench as he fainted. He heard Adam entering the station behind him and released him to his partner so he could turn off the needle still whirring in his hand. 

After a moment spent watching the man nervously, Gansey opened his eyes. Ronan swore in relief. 

“You alright?” Adam drawled, his accent all the more prominent when he was stressed or scared. 

“Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”

“Don’t know that I believe you, man,” Ronan scoffed. 

“I—“ Gansey began, then closed his mouth, cheeks turning pink. “I’m allergic to bee stings. Got stung really bad as a kid. Almost died. Probably should have died. But I didn’t.”

“And this reminded you of that?” Adam asked gently. Gansey nodded. Ronan was glad Parrish was taking charge, Ronan was not good at gentle. 

“You want to keep going? Or maybe have a lie down for a bit?”

“Pardon?”

“We live upstairs,” Parrish explained. “Can make you a coffee and we can finish the tattoo after?”

Gansey smiled and accepted the offer. 

Ronan flipped the sign to closed — an advantage of owning their own shop — and trudged up the stairs after the pair. They were already in the kitchen, Adam bustling around and putting on the coffee as Gansey sat at the table complementing the apartment. 

“So you both live here?” He asked. 

Adam nodded. “Three years now. Bought the whole building with—“ he cut off and looked at Ronan. He always let Ronan reveal whatever he wanted in these kind of situations and Ronan was grateful for it. Some days he just couldn’t talk about it. 

“My dad died, left me some money. Figured as good a use as any.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry.” 

Ronan shrugged, brushing it off and letting Adam change the subject. He leaned against the wall and let the conversation wash over him, clutching at the mug Adam pressed into his hands. 

After a while, it seemed to turn back around to the apartment, again, though, because Gansey was now asking if they had two bedrooms or three. 

“Two, we use the second as an office, the one in the shop isn’t big enough.”

Again, Gansey’s cheeks pinkened and Ronan smiled to himself. He was rather cute. 

“Yes, we’re a couple,” Adam filled in when Gansey seemed unable to ask the question. 

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to, um,” Gansey stammered. 

Ronan squinted at him, then looked to Adam to see if he knew what Gansey was talking about. 

“It’s okay, Gansey. I was flirting, too. We’re polya, we date other people together and separately.”

“Oh thank God, I was so embarrassed!” Gansey laughed then looked to Ronan. “This is weird, now isn’t it?”

“Lynch?” Adam prompted. 

Ronan looked Gansey up and down with a smirk. “Not weird unless you want it to be, Gansey.”

“He’s all bark and no bite,” Adam rolled his eyes. 

“Unless you want me to,” he winked at his partner who rolled his eyes again. When Ronan looked back to Gansey, his eyes were blown wide and his blush had moved down his neck. 

“Oh.” 

“You broke him, Parrish.” 

“I’m—“ said Gansey. 

Ronan took a sip of his coffee. 

“How about we finish that tattoo and if you would like, we'll take you to dinner. If not, then we all had a good flirt and no harm done.” 

Gansey swallowed hard but nodded, so Ronan led the way back down to the shop and rewashed his hands. This time, Adam held Gansey’s free hand and distracted him with silly stories and asked him questions. 

Ronan finished the design and washed it off so Gansey could get a good look at it. The other man stood and went to the mirror, turning his arm back and forth to admire the new ink. 

“You want a photo before we wrap it?” Adam asked. Gansey nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket, handing it to Adam. 

Twenty minutes later, photos taken, wrap applied, instructions given, and bill paid, Gansey stood before them, his telltale blush making his way back to his cheeks. Ronan grinned. 

“Dinner?”

“I’d like that,” Gansey said quietly. 

Ronan cleaned up his station as Adam shut down the front of the shop and soon they were stepping out onto the sidewalk together. 

Ronan slid into step alongside Gansey, Adam on his other side. 

After a block, Ronan slipped his hand into Gansey’s and was rewarded with a quiet gasp and wide eyes. Adam looked over at them and grinned. “Now who’s broken him, Lynch?” Adam teased, but he took Gansey’s other hand and the three of them stayed linked the rest of the way to dinner, chatting easily and flirting openly. 

This was gonna work out just fine. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr at [blueseyforthesoul](https://blueseyforthesoul.tumblr.com/)


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